A gonzo media company is reimagining how we watch the news

Impresario Smith embedded with rebel groups during the 2012 uprising, traveling from the Egyptian border to Benghazi.

Shane Smith says it's easy to get young people to care about international news. He does not make it look easy, because his strategy involves getting people to point guns at him. But Smith--the Canadian-born CEO and co-founder of the Brooklyn-based multimedia company Vice--does make it look easy to be a punk mogul. At the moment, he's taking meetings with executives poolside at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles. His shirt is off, and a gold chain is splayed over his tattooed bear chest as he alternates between a Marlboro and a glass of rosé. From behind his gold-rimmed sunglasses, he's...